


let's have another toast

by allourheroes



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Birthday, F/F, Fourth of July, Marriage Proposal, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-09
Updated: 2015-07-09
Packaged: 2018-04-08 13:26:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4306797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allourheroes/pseuds/allourheroes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky has managed to keep the important parts of the surprise from Steve.</p>
            </blockquote>





	let's have another toast

**Author's Note:**

  * For [leinthalexandra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/leinthalexandra/gifts).



> This is for [Lauren's](http://winterqueenelsaa.tumblr.com) birthday. I promised her this...an _entire year ago_. Whoops. (Also, I still haven't seen _Age of Ultron_.)

“Bucky,” Steve warns, even though she’s only pretending to be annoyed. “Buck, I _told_ you already, we don’t need to make a big deal out of it.”

“No idea what you’re talkin’ about, Rogers,” Bucky tells her, and she’s trying to play it nonchalant, but Steve has known her _far_ too long to buy into it.

Steve sighs. “You know _exactly_ what I’m talking about, Buck.” She glares, but Bucky just uses her metal arm to pull Steve close and kiss her.

“Oh, yeah?” she asks, her nose brushing Steve’s.

“Yeah,” Steve replies, but she grins, her hands coming up to Bucky’s face to kiss her harder. She pulls away to stare into Bucky’s eyes. “You got me something for my birthday, didn’t you?”

Bucky shrugs, smirk firmly in place. “And why would I do somethin’ like that?”

“No idea,” Steve replies, sarcasm fully in place. She slips out of Bucky’s hold to twine her fingers through Bucky’s--the fully human hand, not that she minds the metal so much now, not when it’s a part of Bucky and Bucky is _here_ and _alive_ and not some HYDRA prop to be used against her and the rest of the world. She leans her shoulder into Bucky’s as they walk, only straightening up when Bucky pulls her into the elevator of the tower and heads for the roof.

The doors open and _everyone_ is there.

“A surprise party, Buck?” Steve asks, eyebrow raised. “ _Really_?”

“It’s a Fourth of July party, Steve--nothin’ to do with you.”

Steve huffs out an amused breath. “Then why do all the signs say, ‘Happy Birthday, Cap’?”

“Yeah, that’s why why we celebrate the Fourth,” Bucky tosses out, as if it’s a perfectly reasonable explanation, and she resolutely does _not_ look at Steve for a moment, knowing the look her girlfriend is most assuredly throwing at her.

Sam walks over, handing Steve a plate of food. He gestures to Bucky with the tilt of his head. “She ruined the surprise, didn’t she?”

Steve is too kind to reply in the affirmative, but her face is telling enough.

“’Least I’m cute though, right, Steve?” Bucky nudges Steve lightly.

“Very,” Steve agrees, kissing her girl on the cheek and making Sam smile at the two of them.

“Y’all disgust me,” he announces, elbowing Steve goodnaturedly. “I’m gonna go over there and get away from this love fest.”

“ _Hey_ ,” Bucky argues. “It’s Captain America’s birthday.” She pouts, but her expression turns wicked. “Do you really think _this_ is the love fest?”

“ _Bucky_ ,” Steve whines, and she’s blushing but she’s laughing and her eyes are dancing and by the time she looks over to where Sam was, he’s already escaped. “You’re gonna scare all our friends away.”

Bucky furrows her brows. “Not _all_ of ’em, Rogers.” She steals a tomato off of Steve’s plate and gives the other woman’s butt a squeeze. “Now, go on. Enjoy the party. It’s for you.”

Natasha sidles up next to Bucky once Steve has gone. “You didn’t tell her everything, did you, Barnes?” she asks, her lips curling into a smile as she watches Thor pull Steve into a bear hug--Bruce saving Steve’s plate as it nearly topples to the ground in the process.

“Nah,” Bucky assures, glancing at the Black Widow. “Not _everything_.”

Natasha nods. “Good. I’ll let Stark know.” She turns to go.

“Hey, Natasha?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for helping me set this whole thing up.”

Natasha shrugs. “We all want her to be happy. She deserves that much.”

“You sayin’ I make ’er happy?” Bucky teases, a layer of self-deprecation beneath it.

Natasha’s gaze is sharp as she glances at Bucky. “Do you really need me to answer that?”

Bucky’s expression turns sheepish. She sees Steve looking over at her, smiling, and returns, “Guess not.”

She doesn’t catch Natasha’s smirk.

The party goes on. Steve and Thor find themselves in a stalemate after the decision to arm wrestle. Everyone gets properly inebriated--besides Steve, who can’t, and Clint, who gets a bit _too_ tipsy and suddenly has Natasha hovering around him for to make sure he’s okay, in her own subtle way. Bucky chats with Sam, with Bruce, with Clint and Natasha. It’s a good time for everyone--birthday party and Fourth of July festivities all rolled into one--but the sun has set and the sky is finally dark enough for Bucky’s plan to come into play.

“Alright, everybody,” Tony announces, and he seems to have some sort of remote system in place. “It’s fireworks time, with an extra surprise for our patriotic friend here.”

Steve looks vaguely dubious as Tony tosses her a wink, but she’s appeased by the way Bucky hooks their arms together and juts her chin toward the sky, rests her head against Steve’s shoulder. “Just watch,” she says.

The fireworks are, of course, _fantastic_ , and Steve knows they must’ve gone through all of the proper safety protocols because even Bruce seems happy and unconcerned by the whole thing. There are classic fireworks, but there are pictures, too--stars, attempts at the Avengers, and bright bursts of every color imaginable. But then, as Steve watches, words appear in the sky:

_MARRY ME_

She turns to find Bucky opening a small black box beside. “Never thought we’d get this chance, Steve,” Bucky says, and Steve can just hear her over everything else.

The ring glints off the little lights set up around the rooftop, off of the lights in the sky. “Buck…”

“Not to take away from your big day or anything,” Bucky says, “just couldn’t pass up the opportunity.” She swallows. “So?”

“Yeah, Bucky,” Steve replies, and her smile isn’t wide and blinding, but soft, private, _intimate_. “Of course I’ll marry you.”

Bucky slips the ring on her fiancée’s finger with her flesh-and-bone hand as she tries not to let the metal crush the box in her happiness. She doesn’t like admitting that she’s sentimental, but her eyes are watering because _Steve thinks she’s good enough_ , even after everything, and she kisses Steve hoping that, with everything they’ve been through, they’ll finally be allowed _this_. “Happy birthday, Steve Rogers,” she murmurs, too close to speak properly.

Steve rests her forehead against Bucky’s. “Best birthday I’ve ever had.”

Bucky pulls away, and she hopes the tears in her eyes don’t ruin the mischief of her smile as she tells Steve, quite firmly, “And I haven’t even given you your present.”

Steve feels bad, abandoning the party like that, but Bucky’s present--her _presence_ , really--is completely worth it.


End file.
